Picture hook or hanger



(No Model.)

W. M. BRINKERHOFP.

IIGIURE HOOK 0R HANGER.

Patented July 19, 1887.

. of the pictures.

UNITED STATES PATENITOFFICE IVARREN H. BRINKERHOFF, OF AUBURN, NFAV YORK.

PICTURE HOOK OR HANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,812, dated July 19, 1887.

Application filed May 10, lPBT. Serial No. 237,700. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WARREN M. BRINKER- IIOFF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Auburn, in the county of Cayuga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Picture Hooks or Hangers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appcrtains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of devices known. as picture-hangers, and it consists in certainpeculiarities of construction whereby the picturesupporting cord or wire is held from slipping upon its support and the accidental displacement of the picture prevented.

It is a fact well known to housekeepers that pictures in a dwelling-house are constantly getting awry upon the walls or out of true perpendicular. There being nothing to prevent the cord or wire from slipping upon its support, any inconsiderate handling in dusting the room causes the cords to move upon the nails or hooks, resultingin a displacement In case the pictures are not balanced upon their supporting hooks or nails, any sudden jar or vibration of the walls will also cause a slipping of the cord or wire on its support with like results.

My improved hanger is designed to avoid this difliculty and to provide a support for a picture cord or wire which will'not permit such cord to slip upon the same, and which will therefore tend to keep the pictures in place upon the walls.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated several modes in which I have contemplated applying my invention, and such invention is fully disclosed in the following.

The hanger consists of a main body, A, of any suitable material, and when designed for attachment to a cornice it is provided at its upper end with the large cornice-hook a. The cord or wire supporting hook is located beneath the hook a, and below this I form one or two hooks or projections, and the cord is made to engage these in the manner shown or any equivalent way. The cord isheld by this means at such an angle either in respect to the cord or wire hook or to such hooks themselves that it is prevented from all slipping upon its support. In all the figures except Fig. 8 the picture-hanger is shown made from a piece of plate metal, and in Figs. 1 and 3 the cord hook I) is shown as made by a tongue of metal cut from the central part of the plate, and bent outward and then upward to form the hook. Below this hook the lower corners of the plate are bent upward to form the hooks Z) Z), which I denominate the rctainingliooks. In hanging a picture the cord or wire 0 is first placed upon the hook b and the picture adjusted to the proper position. The cord or wire is then grasped and placed in engagement with the retaining con struction by inwardly deflecting the same, in which position it will be held against accidental displacement.

It will be seen that when the picture is suspended upon the eord or picturesupport, and its whole weight hanging thereon, the picture can be adjusted to its desired position with little difficulty, as there is nothing to prevent the cord from moving easily upon its support; but when the cord is placed within or in engagement with the retaining devices it is locked thereby and securely held in position.

In Fig. 2 the cord or wire support is formed of two hooks, b' b' also integral with the plate, consisting of two pieces cut from the sides of the plate and turned upward. The retaininghooks I) I) are formed of like portions of the plate turned from the sides toward the center of the plate; or the retaining-hooks may be cut from the sides in a similar manner to the cord-supporting hooks and turned downward, as shown in Fig. 2".

In Fig. 4 the main body of the plate is bent or foldedtransversely, so as to form a hook or support, b", for the cord, and the retaininghooks are formed by providing the lower end of the plate with a dovetail slot and bending such lower portion of the plate outward at right angles with the'main body of the hook or hanger.

'In the form of the device shown in Figs. 5 and 6 I dispense with the hooks for supporting the cord or wire. The plate is provided with the retaining-hooks b b, as in Figs. 1 and 3, and for a cord-support I provide a separate piece, 0, having a pointed or wedgeshaped lower portion fitting within the retaining-hooks I) b. This piece O'may be made of a solid piece'of metal, or it may be made of plate material having its edges bent at right angles to its face to give it the necessary hearu ing upon the cord, and its upper sidemay be curved or straight, as preferred. The sides or edges are preferably grooved orhollowed to receive the cord, and this-grooved or hollowed portion may have transverse corrugations to giveita greaterhold upon the cord. \Vhen this form ,of hook or hanger is employed, the cord or wire is placed around the piece 0 within the retaining-hooks b b. The cord is adjusted without allowing the weight of the picture to come upon it until the proper position of the cord is secured, when the weight is allowed to come upon the cord, and the piece 0 is drawn downward between the retai hing-hooks, firmly clamping the cord.

In Fig. 7 I show the same form of cord and retaining-hooks as in Fig. 2. The plate A in this instance is not provided with the cornicehook, but has near its upper end an opening to engage a nail or screw, by which it is held in position on the wall. A like form of hook is shown in Fig. 8 made from wire instead of a plate.

Instead of the opening in the hook or hanger to receive a screw or nail, I may attach a spur, nail, or screw to the rear side of the upper part of the plate, and secure the hook to the wall therewith; but when designed for attachment to a plain surface the ordinary 'picturenail or similar engagement may be used. In such cases it is not necessary that any support for the cord be provided other than the nail or similar devices. The depending portion below the nail may simply consist of a body of any suitable material provided with means for engaging its support and with the herein-described constructions for confining the cord or wire below the cord-support. In Fig. 9 I have shown such a form of cord-retaining hooks as in Figs. 2 and 7; but the cordsupporting hook in this case consists of the wallengaging device, usually a nail or screw,

which answers the double purpose of forming a support for sustaining the weight of the picture on the wall and a support for/the cord. 'While this form may be employed and is within the spirit of my invention, it is not my preferred form of construction.

Itwill be understood that either of the forms shown may have a cornice-hook, or it may be attached tothe wall, as hereinbef ore indicated, or in any other preferred manner.

The position of the retaining-hooks may be considerably varied; but they should be so located'as to cause the cord or wire to be deflected considerably from its usual straight line from the cord-support to the pioture frame. I prefer to place them in a vertical line below the outer edges of the cord-support, or within these positions and nearer the center of the hook, in either of which positions the cord, previous to its being secured by the retaining devices, will not ordinarily come in contact with the operative surfaces of the same.

It will also be observed that in the instances in which the cornice-hook is used the extended bearing of the same upon the cornice tends to prevent the vibration of the hook or hanger, and also that the locking of the cord to the hook or hanger at another point, giving the cord two hearings in different horizontal planes upon the hook, has a strong tendency to prevent thelateral vibration of the picture when once secured imposition. This feature of my invention I regard as an important one, as it constitutes an almost sure safeguard against the accidental displacement of the picture.

I may sometimes employ but a single retaining-hook, as I have found that when placed in the posit-ions shown in the drawings asingle retaining-hook will prevent the slipping of the cord, as the bend of the cord inward beneath the cord-support will prevent its slipping in one direction and the outward bend of the cord below the retaining-hook will prevent its moving in the opposite direction.

\Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A picture-hanger consisting of a picture cord support and a retaining device or devices below the cord-support foriholding the cord in an inwardly-deflected position, the construction and arrangementof parts being such that the picture can be suspended upon the cordsupport, and while so suspended adjusted to its proper position and the cord then be re- IIO movably secured by the retaining device or de- 1 vices by inwardly deflecting and engaging the same therewith, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The herein-described picture-hanger, consisting of a main body provided with means for engaging a support for the same, the said body being also provided with a cord-support and aprojection or projections for holding the cord in an inwardly-deflected position below' gaging a support for the same, the said plate having a cord-support, and also provided below the cord-support with aproieetion or proiections separate from the cord-support for holding the cord in an inwardly-deflected position, whereby the picture can be suspended upon the cord-support, and while the weight is upon the cord and its support the picture can be adjusted to the proper position and the cord then be removably secured by the projection or projections by inwardly deflecting and engaging the same therewith, for the purposes set forth.

4. The herein-described picture-hanger, consisting of a plate provided with means for engaging a support for the same, a cordsupport, and two hooks below and separate from the cord-support for removably engaging both of the descending portions of the picture-cord, for the purposes specified.

5. Theherein-described picture-hanger, consisting of a main body provided with means for engaging a support t'orthe same, a support for the picture-cord, and two cord-engaging projections below the cord-support sepa rate therefrom and within vertical lines from the outer edges of such cont-support, for the purposes set forth.

6. Theherein-described picture-hanger, consisting of a plate provided with means for on gaging a support for the same, a support for the picture-cord having its outer lateral edges extending nearly or quite to the edges of said plate, the said plate having below the said cord-support a ccntrally-depcuding portion of less width than the cordsupport, said depending portion being provided with two hooks for reinovably engaging the cord below the cordsupport, for the purposes described.

7. The combination, with the support for a pictu record, of a construction below the cordsupport having two bearings for reniovably engaging the portions of the picturecord below the cordsupport and lying within the lines of the cord when passing directly from said support to the picture, substantially as described.

8. A pieture-hanger consisting of a main body provided with means for engaging a support for the same, tending to hold it from lateral vibration upon said support, a cord-support, and a projection or projections in a different horizontal plane from the cordsupport for holding the cord in an inward]ydeflected position, whereby the picture can be suspended on the cord-support, and while so suspended adjusted to its proper position without the cord bearing against the operative surfaces of said projection or projections, and the cord can then be placed in removable engagement wit-h said projection or projections and re strained from lateral vibration and from movement upon the cord-support, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WARREN M. BRINKERHOFF.

\Vitnesses:

L. B. WuItrAKER, G. A. lnnvos'r. 

